Recreation Advisory Commission

The City of Durham Parks & Recreation Department Recreation Advisory Commission Wednesday, December 11, 2019 DPR Training Room (1st Floor) 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Members Present: David Green, David Fellerath, Kokou Nayo, Rebecca Reyes, Eric Tullis, Frank White, Lesley Strack- Mullem, Jessica Slice (phone via Conference Call) it should be noted that Lesley signed-in on Jessica’s behalf. Members Excused/Unexcused: Marcella Scurlock-Jones– excused City Council Liaison: Council Member Alston – not present City Staff Present: Tom Dawson, Joy Guy, Rhonda Parker, Lynda Merritt, Jason Jones Introduction/Call to Order: David G. called the meeting to order at 7:35 a.m. and welcomed those present. Welcome new members: A welcome was made to Jessica as she participated via conference call. At 7:40 a.m. David F. arrived at the meeting. Approval of Minutes (October 2019 & November 2019) Rebecca made a motion to approve the October 9, 2019 meeting minutes; seconded by David G. No further changes, whereupon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the minutes were approved as presented. Frank made a motion to approve the November 13, 2019 meeting minutes; seconded by David G. No further changes, whereupon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted, the minutes were approved as presented. At 7:42 a.m. Eric arrived at the meeting. Adjustments to the agenda: No adjustments to the agenda .Director’s Report:  Special thank you to RAC members for their support during recent DPR events (Employee Appreciation Event (Eric & David F.) 48th Annual Senior Holiday Party (Marcella). The Senior Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, December 11, 2019 Page 1  Holiday Party event was sold out with 860 tickets purchased and 30 volunteers – special thanks to Marcella for volunteering.  Deconstruction of the Duke Bath House has been completed.  Renovation of the tennis courts at East End Park has been completed (resurfaced tennis courts and new fencing), go check it out!  In November, a group of Aquatic professionals, in the Triangle area, came together to discuss current trends and practices in Aquatics and Recreation. Those in attendance represented Raleigh Parks and Recreation, Duke Aquatics, NCCU Recreation, and Sportsplex in Hillsborough. They discussed different outlets to post job vacancies, ways to retain staff and HR hiring differences. Everyone shared information from their respective organization. One outcome of this meeting was the generation of a second list of Aquatic facilities and apartment pool management groups. These groups will be contacted and included in the sharing of summer staff openings and training opportunities throughout the year.  A Jordan High school student and several community members and volunteers completed an Eagle Scout project at Campus Hills Park. The World Peace Garden is dedicated to “promoting world peace; standing against gun violence” and was four years in the making. Comments: Lesley inquired about one of DPR’s new programs “cooking with kids”. Her son is currently on the waiting list. Jason explained how the process works and how staff handles these types of issues. There was discussion on the registration process and Joy reviewed some of the adjustments we’ve made to ensure everyone has equal access during the program registration period. One idea proposed was establishing off-site programming with partners like the Ronald McDonald House. Would DPR consider agreements and working with other agencies on these types of popular programs when DPR has limited space? Public Comment: No public comment RAC Reporting Items:  DPR events: o Marcella volunteered for the Senior Holiday Party o Eric and David F. attended the Employee Recognition event in November  PAC meetings:  Community Engagement events: RAC Action Items – Fee Waiver Requests Fee Waiver Request - Rich Hahn No fee waivers were presented at this meeting. At 7:57 a.m. Frank left the meeting. Old Business: CC Board Membership Recommendation  There was some discussion on the pros and cons of increasing the commission membership numbers versus keeping the membership at nine members. During our RAC Report to City Council it was suggested by Mayor Schewel that the RAC take a look at increasing the board membership from nine members to eleven members. We may need to look at the gaps and where we’re falling short. A suggestion was made that maybe a teenager could serve. Are there any areas that we’re not covering? One member pointed out that there are no millennials on the Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, December 11, 2019 Page 2  board. Do we know if there are any parks and recreation programs locally? Is there an age requirement for serving on a city appointed board or commission? Lynda will check with the City Clerk’s office. o Jason pointed out that the My Durham program is very purposeful about getting input from teens concerning their preferred programming. DPR staff is doing an excellent job of looking at trends and working with teens on their programming ideas. Our staff works with teens on a daily basis and they are well represented within our department. o Do we need to make a recommendation from the RAC to City Council thru the City Clerk’s Office? o Are we comfortable with keeping our numbers at nine and reaching out to various community groups and residents, park users who are interested and work on forming a sub-committee? o Lynda has compared benchmark cities with populations equal to Durham’s and we are in line with their board/commission membership numbers. Open comments: o What criteria should we consider and base our decision on? o Currently we have a new board membership, what makes for an effective board. o We need to get going on our priorities o A larger membership could affect our quorum. o Could it lead to lack of direction or would we lose some of our momentum? o What is the upside of having a larger board? More boots on the ground! o Maybe a high school or college age member, would that pose an issue? o Jason, currently we have nine members and getting much beyond that adds some more challenges. We could always invite members of the community to participate on subcommittees without being official RAC members. o It was discussed that a vote is not needed; unless a change is recommended and a motion is made. o Historically, the RAC has been one of the most active boards in the city. Larger numbers doesn’t always lead to more participation, especially if the same 4 members are doing most of the work. o It’s imperative that board members are responsive to Lynda; she tries to keep you up to speed on what’s going on. o If we’re able to include community members, are we able to get a list of residents who have applied to the RAC? This is a question for the city clerk’s office. o We may need to look at how we can expand our community outreach. As we move forward, building out the subcommittee idea, and see how that takes shape. o A decision was made to table the board membership numbers for now and we will move in that direction should members feel a change would be in the best interest of the commission. Meeting Dates for 2020:  Meeting dates and special meetings were reviewed.  Members preferred a spring park tour and it was agreed that the April date was preferred by all.  Lynda will begin working on transportation and securing drivers for the buses/vans.  Park Tour details were discussed.  Let Lynda know if there are any parks or facilities that you’d like to visit along the tour.  Lynda will notify the city clerk’s office of the changes.  Changes include: April 8th was selected as the preferred park tour date; and Thursday, November 12, 2020 was selected as the preferred November meeting date. Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, December 11, 2019 Page 3   November dates were also reviewed and members selected Thursday, November 12, 2020 as the preferred date.  Lynda will follow-up with an email about the park tour and ask for park tour ideas.  David F. made a motion to approve the meeting dates as discussed; it was seconded by Rebecca and unanimously carried. New Business: Officer Elections for 2020 (January Meeting)  Reminder: breakfast meeting in January  DPR staff will present the FY2019 Accomplishments Report.  Elections will be held for: RAC Chairman and RAC Vice Chair  Everyone was in favor of an informal election, (verbal nominations and open voting forum) Updates – Tom Dawson:  Tom provided an update on the pickleball meeting. Results – we should be able to accommodate both groups and to let DPR staff handle the decisions moving forward, they were able to set some ground rules. It was a nice reminder that pickleball is for all ages. Projects:  Expanding the trail network o From 2014 through 2017, DPR trail planning efforts resulted in award of competitive federal funding for three trails (Downtown Trial, Third Fork Creek Trail, R. Kelly Bryant Trail) by $5.5 million.  East End Park o Tennis courts are officially open for play and back into the maintenance schedule. In addition, new fencing was installed along the border of the multi-purpose field and North Alston Ave.  Duke Park o There are issues with the isolated parking lot and what kind of recreational activity would work well in that space. In the past, a lot of illegal activity was going on in the parking area. o The deconstruction of the Duke Bathhouse has been completed. o Staff are in the process of looking for positive ways to utilize this space.  Lakeview Park Planning o The community led a Participatory Budgeting request. The project did not receive funding but it laid out a list of needs for the park. o DPR and DPF met with the community to develop a park plan and select playground features. o 145 residents participated in a preference survey. o DPR is developing a plan to improve the park and connect to Red Maple Park.  Re-envisioning Historic Parks o West Point on the Eno – pavilion and prairie o An astronomy platform has been added, astronomy programs will be held there. o Proposed FY24 funding o Proposed Environmental Education and Nature Station  Old North Durham & parking lot o This space has a lot of potential as a testing site for “pop-up programming” such as: sidewalk fitness boot camp. o Parking has been problematic for Trosa; as they’ve had issues with residents parking in the fire lanes. Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, December 11, 2019 Page 4  o The goal will be to maintain some of the parking for dedicated programming space and part for pop-up programming and parking. o Could be used as a testing ground for programming and as a demonstration space for programs such as: sidewalk astronomy, fitness classes, testing out special playground equipment. o There was some discussion that several RAC members were not aware that the city owned and maintained Old North Durham Park. o It was suggested that DPR may have a need for additional or modified types of signage. Proper signage is the key to establishing urban spaces for parks. o Rhonda provided a summary of the past history and plans by one group to privatize the park for their exclusive use. This is one reason that DPR works very closely with DCP Inc. and Durham Central Park to make sure that no one is excluded. A resolution was made to keep the Old North Durham Park soccer field as it is, and open for everyone. Lack of parking is an issue here but we deal with that at most of our parks. Committee Reports: There were no committee reports at this meeting.  DOST Report Frank White  Park Safety Committee Frank White  BPAC David Fellerath  Hillandale Advisory Committee Rebecca Reyes Open Discussion:  Kokou Nayo announced that he’s unable to attend the January 2020 RAC meeting.  David G. – agenda items 1. Annual RAC Retreat – begin thinking about ideas or topics of interest so staff will have time to prepare well in advance. 2. Subcommittee ideas, topics & interests: Be prepared to provide feedback in January.  David F. inquired about how the RAC can be involved in more future soccer field projects. Tom, there will be opportunities for discussion and input on future projects.  David F. – Kudos to staff on the improvements made to East End Park! A motion was made to adjourn at 9:00 a.m.; it was seconded. Next RAC Meeting Wednesday, January 8, 2020 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. st DPR Training Room – 1 Floor Minutes respectfully submitted by Lynda Merritt: Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, December 11, 2019 Page 5